In May of last year, a Connecticut jury ordered Vanderbilt Minerals to pay $15 million in damages to the family of mesothelioma victim Nicholas Barone. The group also agreed that the company should be required to pay punitive damages to be determined by the trial judge who heard the case. This week, Judge William Clark of the Bridgeport Superior Court ordered the defendants to pay the victim’s survivors an additional $7.5 million, noting that Vanderbilt was a sophisticated defendant who knew the dangers of the product they were selling and that they would not be financially ruined by having to pay the award.
Man’s Mesothelioma Linked to Occupational Exposure
At trial, the jury heard that the mesothelioma victim had been exposed to asbestos and asbestos-containing materials for two years between 1965 and 1967 when he worked as an engineer in a location where phenolic plastics that incorporated both raw asbestos and talc were manufactured. Testimony detailed employees having snowball fights using the toxic material. He died of the rare, asbestos-related disease shortly after having been diagnosed at the age of 81.
The jury also learned that the company had been made aware of the dangers of asbestos in 1925 and that, in the ensuing years, it continued to mine and sell talc products without warnings. The decision to place profitability over the health of the people exposed to their product, in combination with evidence that Vanderbilt had employed a strategy to conceal the dangers, including lobbying for scientific definitions that downplayed the risk, all contributed to the jury’s decision that punitive damages were appropriate.
Punitive Damages Award in Mesothelioma Case Serves as Warning to Companies
In assigning the $7.5 million punitive damages ruling in the mesothelioma case, Judge Clark noted that it should serve as a deterrent to other companies about the consequences of “hiding dangerous products from consumers or seeking to minimize the impact of toxins through hyper-technical definition or scientific lobbying strategies.” The decision brings the amount awarded to the Barone family to over $22 million.
If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma, the Patient Advocates at Mesothelioma.net are here to help. Contact us today at 1-800-692-8608 to learn more.
